[A Reyt Tayty]

I bought a cucumber plant without knowing the variety (other than it's a mini).
It said it could be grown inside or out and had a compact habit. It was slow to kick off and the main stem got a bit manky and had to be nipped out. Since then, it's made a miraculous recovery. It's thrown serveral new stems with loads of cucumbers forming. It it throwing lots of male flowers  though. More than on cucumbers to be honest. I've only grown F1 all female plants before. so this is the question: How important is it to remove the male flowers, and how quickly should they be nipped off? I can check the plant twice a day and find new flowers.

[Trillium]

Normally you leave the male flowers on and they'll eventually die off on their own. The male flowers show up before the female flowers do to encourage bees to come by. perhaps your female flowers are late in showing up.

[A Reyt Tayty]

Normally you leave the male flowers on and they'll eventually die off on their own. The male flowers show up before the female flowers do to encourage bees to come by. perhaps your female flowers are late in showing up.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Everything I've ever heard is about nipping off the male flowers or the fruits turn bitter?

[DD.]

I'm sorry to have to disagree with Trillium, but unless the cucumber is an outdoor (ridge) variety, you do need to nip the male flowers off. As you say, it can make them taste bitter if they get pollinated.

[JayG]

Apart from the challenge of keeping the flippin' plants alive there seems to be plenty of room for confusion about this - the general advice is that outdoor varieties need pollination by the male flowers, and indoor varieties don't, which isn't much help with varieties which are sold as suitable for growing indoors or outdoors!   

Reading the packet or researching your particular variety online has to be the best policy, but if you don't know what variety it is all I can think of is to leave the male flowers on, and if the resulting cukes are bitter, start taking them off.

[DD.]

As it's a mini variety, I doubt that it's a ridge variety that needs the male flowers.

All cucumbers can, of course, be grown inside or out, given the right summer!

[JayG]

All cucumbers can, of course, be grown inside or out, given the right summer!

Not by me they can't!   

Thank goodness for Marketmore ridge cucumbers - they don't hate me as much as other (much more expensive) varieties, and you know exactly where they stand reproduction-wise.

My greenhouse Passandra all-female F1's are still "thinking about it", although they're not dead yet and at least have been pondering their fate for longer than in the previous 2 years I've tried to grow them!

[mumofstig]

Just to confuse matters I'm growing la Diva, which has small-sized fruit but is a ridge-type

As this is what is known as a 'Ridge Type' it is suitable for outdoor growing, frame growing or growing in a polytunnel or greenhouse. Being an all female variety, it is best to remove the male flowers (identified by not having a tiny fruit behind the flower).

http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/Cucumber_Seed_La_Diva/

Despite the blurb the male flowers outnumber the females so far, and I've had not a single fruit yet 

[JayG]

Not very reassuring when even the seed producers don't appear to be 100% certain of what to do (surely you either do or don't remove the male flowers, not "best to"?) 

[A Reyt Tayty]

So to summarise:
If it's indoor, nip out male flowers.
If it's outdoor, leave then on.

Apart from the times when you do exactly opposite.

Sometimes.

All is becoming clear.

[DD.]

But don't forget, you can grow outdoor ones inside and indoor ones outside, if the conditions are OK.

You get even more problems if you mix indoor and outdoor together, whether outdoors or indoors as the outdoors can pollinate the indoors.

[mumofstig]

No!
Stop it!
I can take no more - my head will explode 

 :blink:

[AnneB]

I haven't got an "indoors" which makes things easier.  I grow miniature white cucumbers.  If it is warm and sunny I get a crop. If it is cold, dull and wet I don't.  No messing about with flowers.  OK if the weather does its stuff. Disaster if not.  Looking good this year.

[A Reyt Tayty]

But don't forget, you can grow outdoor ones inside and indoor ones outside, if the conditions are OK.

You get even more problems if you mix indoor and outdoor together, whether outdoors or indoors as the outdoors can pollinate the indoors.

I remember a Laurel and Hardy sketch a bit like this thread. About a man and a boat and catching your own fish to cut out the middle man.